Asked which brands and in particular which SA brands were likely to get involved at a high level, Phil Carling, Octagon UK Senior Vice President answered: "The top six partnerships are likely to be multinationals that have a football sponsorship pedigree. Only Coke and Philips have been with this game from the onset and are likely to continue.

"Mass target market brands in the industry categories; airline, automobile, fuel, digital, soft drink, financial services, alcoholic beverage and a restaurant chain, are the most likely to get involved. A technical supplier such as Adidas, Nike or Reebok will also feature and will supply the sports gear. FIFA's goal is to get a major South African brand on board that has global ambitions and my best guess is probably South African Breweries."

The biggest announcement to the big brand marketers attending was - if you want to be one of six Worldwide Partners involved in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, you will need an estimated $125 million. Not too high a price when you are reaching 2.78 million stadium attendees and a television audience of 30 billion in 209 territories.

However, as any sponsoring company knows, the costs don't stop with buying a sponsorship rights package. A second budget needs to be available to leverage maximum value from the sponsorship.

According to Octagon SA Group MD Neill Duffy, who also chaired the conference: "There are 200 brands competing with each other at the 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany. This is far too much clutter. We were pleased to hear the announcement at SoccerEx, held in Dubai in November, that the commercial structure will be changing for our World Cup. There will be only six 'tier one' partners, eight FIFA World Cup sponsors and four to six national sponsors," he says.

"The cost of the other packages are currently speculative. My message to corporate South Africa is - if these sponsorships are financially out of reach, there are lots of smaller opportunities in between each FIFA World Cup to build an association with this overwhelmingly popular game, and to integrate your products with the masses of SA consumers, who are passionate followers of football."

Duffy concludes: "The best advice I can give mass target market brands is to use the next six year period to become synonymous with football with smaller, more affordable sponsorships. And use tactical clever and a creative advertising to build an association to the game.

"In 2010, South Africa will be the focus of the world and research has shown that brands that add value to the soccer fans' enjoyment of the game, will get the best return on its investment."